U.S./World category, Page 544
Cornered in Ukraine, Putin ditches annual news conference
President Vladimir Putin has ditched his annual marathon news conference following a series of battlefield setbacks in Ukraine — a tacit acknowledgment that the Russian leader’s war has gone badly wrong. Putin typically uses the year-end ritual to polish his image, answering a wide range of questions on domestic and...
Biden signs gay marriage bill at White House ceremony
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden signed gay marriage legislation into law Tuesday before a crowd of thousands, a ceremony that reflected growing acceptance of same-sex unions. “This law and the love it defends strike a blow against hate in all its forms,” Biden said on the South Lawn of the...
Massive U.S. storm brings tornado warnings, blizzard threatVideo
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — A massive storm blowing across the country spawned tornadoes that wrecked homes and injured a handful of people in parts of Oklahoma and Texas, including the Dallas-Fort Worth area, as much of the central United States from the Rocky Mountains to the Midwest braced Tuesday for...
Donors meet in Paris to get Ukraine through winter, bombing
PARIS — Dozens of countries and international organizations threw their weight and hundreds of millions of dollars behind a fresh and urgent push Tuesday to keep Ukraine powered, fed, warm and moving this winter, responding defiantly to sustained Russian aerial bombardments that have plunged millions into the cold and dark...
Libyan accused in Lockerbie bombing appears in U.S. courtVideo
WASHINGTON — More than three decades after a bomb brought down Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing everyone aboard, a former Libyan intelligence official accused of making the explosive appeared Monday in federal court, charged with an act of international terrorism. The extradition of Abu Agila Mohammad Mas’ud...
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene claims she was only joking about ‘winning’ Jan. 6 attack on Capitol and carrying gunsVideo
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said Monday she was only joking when she boasted that extremists would have been armed and would have “won” the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol if she had led the attempted insurrection. The far right-wing firebrand said critics should “learn how sarcasm works” after she...
Explainer: Why fusion could be a clean-energy breakthrough
The Department of Energy is planning an announcement Tuesday about a “major scientific breakthrough” at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, one of several sites worldwide where researchers have been trying to develop the possibility of harnessing energy from nuclear fusion. It’s a technology that has the potential to one day...
DOJ subpoenas Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s office as Trump investigation continues
ATLANTA — The U.S. Department of Justice has subpoenaed the Georgia secretary of state’s office and at least one metro Atlanta county as it continues to investigate former President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. A copy of the Dec. 9 subpoena obtained by The Washington Post...
Millions in central U.S. brace for snow, rain and floodsVideo
DALLAS — A massive storm blowing across the country spawned tornadoes in parts of Oklahoma and Texas, including the Dallas-Fort Worth area, as much of the central United States from the Rocky Mountains to the Midwest braced Tuesday for blizzard-like conditions. An area stretching from Montana into western Nebraska and...
Richmond removes its last city-owned Confederate monument
RICHMOND, Va. — The city of Richmond — the capital of the Confederacy for most of the Civil War — removed its last city-owned Confederate statue on Monday, more than two years after it began to purge itself of what many saw as painful symbols of racial oppression. It took...
Supreme Court won’t block California flavored tobacco ban
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday refused a request from tobacco companies to stop California from enforcing a ban on flavored tobacco products that was overwhelmingly approved by voters in November. R.J. Reynolds and other tobacco companies sought the high court’s intervention to keep the ban from taking effect...
Student loan forgiveness ‘highly unlikely’ as Supreme Court reviews case, says expert
The federal Supreme Court rejected President Biden’s immediate request to revive his student debt relief plan on Dec. 1. The court will review oral arguments in February 2023 and then determine whether the leading lawsuit against the program has merit. As the case reaches the highest U.S. court of law,...
Maduro ally seeks recognition as Venezuela diplomat in court
MIAMI — For more than two years, almost since the time of his arrest on U.S. warrant, Alex Saab has insisted he is a Venezuelan diplomat targeted for his work helping the South American country circumvent American economic sanctions. Starting Monday, the Colombian-born businessman will get a chance to prove...
China vows to drop some travel tracking in covid rule easing
BEIJING — China said it would stop tracking some travel, potentially reducing the likelihood people will be forced into quarantine for visiting Covid-19 hot spots, as part of an uncertain exit from the strict pandemic policies that helped fuel widespread protests. Once midnight hit Monday, the part of a smart...
Divided Republicans point fingers over midterms disaster
With the midterm elections officially over, Republicans are pointing fingers over their disastrous performance — and the divisive role of former President Donald Trump. Herschel Walker’s loss in the closely watched Georgia Senate run off capped a campaign in which the GOP dramatically failed to engineer a sweeping red wave...
Biden restarts task force on immigrants’ success in U.S.
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is reinstating a task force that is aimed at helping immigrants and refugees integrate into the United States. The Task Force on New Americans will be run by the Domestic Policy Council and the focus will be workforce training, education and financial access as well...
Young voters’ enthusiasm for Democrats waned during midterms
WASHINGTON — Young voters who have been critical to Democratic successes in recent elections showed signs in November’s midterms that their enthusiasm may be waning, a potential warning sign for a party that will need their strong backing heading into the 2024 presidential race. Voters under 30 went 53% for...
2nd Oath Keepers Jan. 6 sedition trial to get underway
WASHINGTON — After securing seditious conspiracy convictions against two leaders of the Oath Keepers, the Justice Department will begin Monday to try to make its Capitol riot case against four others affiliated with the far-right extremist group. Openings statements are expected in Washington’s federal court less than two weeks after...
3 children die after fall into icy lake; UK gripped by storm
LONDON — Three young boys who fell through ice covering a lake in central England have died and a fourth remains hospitalized as weather forecasters issued severe weather warnings for large parts of the United Kingdom. Police in full uniform jumped into the water and broke through the ice using...
Ukraine PM urges more military aid to counter Russia attacks
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine’s prime minister is appealing for Patriot missile batteries and other hi-tech air defense systems to counter Russian attacks, as more Russian shelling was reported on Monday in the eastern regions of Ukraine where Moscow is trying to make battlefield gains. Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal told French...
Iran execution: Man publicly hanged from crane amid protests
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran executed a second prisoner on Monday convicted over crimes committed during the nationwide protests challenging the country’s theocracy, publicly hanging him from a construction crane as a gruesome warning to others. The execution of Majidreza Rahnavard came less than a month after he allegedly...
3 bald eagles die, 10 sick after eating euthanized animals
INVER GROVE HEIGHTS, Minn. — At least 13 bald eagles were likely poisoned by scavenging the carcasses of euthanized animals that were improperly dumped at a Minnesota landfill, and three of the majestic birds have died. The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that state and federal wildlife officials are investigating after...
Storm blowing through California dumps snow in SierraVideo
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — Heavy snow fell in the Sierra Nevada as a winter storm packing powerful winds sent ski lift chairs swinging and closed mountain highways while downpours at lower elevations triggered flood watches Sunday across large swaths of California into Nevada. More than 250 miles of the...
With suspect in custody, spotlight returns to 1988 bombing
The announcement Sunday that a Libyan man suspected in the 1988 bombing of a passenger jet has been taken into U.S. custody put the spotlight back on the notorious terrorist attack and longstanding efforts to pursue those responsible. The suspect, Abu Agela Mas’ud Kheir Al-Marimi, is accused of building the...
Photos: It’s all downhill for 300 skiing Santas, a Grinch and a tree
NEWRY, Maine — A bunch of Santa lookalikes took to the ski slopes to spread some seasonal cheer on Sunday. More than 300 jolly ol’ elves — all dressed in red — dashed together down a mountain with white beards and Santa hats flapping in the breeze at the Sunday...
